Happy 75th Birthday Keith Richards!

Happy 75th Birthday to Keith Richards... 
As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." 
So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

Secret 7"

I'm beyond thrilled that my work was selected for Secret 7” to be featured on the album cover of Jeff Buckley's "Lover You Should've Come Over" 

Secret 7" selects 7 tracks from 7 of the best-known musicians around (this year includes songs by Jeff Buckley, Jimi Hendrix, and The Clash) and presses each one 100 times to vinyl. They then invite creatives from around the world to interpret the tracks in their own style.

This year the unique sleeves are exhibited and being auctioned off to benefit Mind UK, a mental health organization that helps half a million people in England and Wales annually. The 2018 exhibition is being held at The Jetty, Greenwich Peninsula, in London and is sponsored by Sony Music and Squarespace.

Happy Birthday Keith Richards

Happy Birthday to Keith Richards... 
As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." 
So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

Happy Birthday Keith Richards!

Happy Birthday to Keith Richards... 
As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

From the archives

{Circa 2009} Smash Records | collage, linoblock, and hand stitching on a vintage 45 record sleeve | 7x7"

Friday Inspiration: Summer Sountrack

Stumbled upon this sign on a hot Thursday night in Austin, Texas.

As the last days of August fade away, here is what has been on heavy rotation on my studio playlist this summer:

• This House is Not For Sale | Ryan Adams
• My Winding Wheel | Ryan Adams
• Styggo | The Dandy Warhols
• Woman Woman | AWOLNATION
• I am the Wolf, You are the Moon | Craig Wedren
• Hey | The Falls
• Bad Habit | The Kooks
• Inside Out | Spoon
• Steve McQueen | Brian Fallon
• Welcome Home | Radical Face
• Heroes (Acoustic) | Davis Bowie
• Charlie Brown | Coldplay
• This is the Last Time | The National
• Sagres | The Tallest Man on Earth

Friday Inspiration: Long Live Keith

20 February 2016: the Rolling Stones in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil   (photo by J. Bouquet)

"About myself I have no great illusions. I know what I am. I know what I'm good at. I know what I ain't. I'm always hoping to surprise myself. But I do have a love of music and I do love to communicate it, and that's the best I can do, really."

{Keith Richards}

Friday the 13th

Not a Circle (III) | ink on vintage paper | 7.125x10" | copyright Kate Castelli 2015

Studio playlist (snow-day edition...blizzards make for productive days in the studio...)

This is the Last Time / The National
Uptown Funk (featuring Bruno Mars) / Mark Ronson
Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf) / AWOLNATION
Better Man /Leon Bridges
Future Starts Slow / The Kills
I Put a Spell on You / Annie Lennox
I'm on Fire / Bruce Springsteen
Shots / Imagine Dragons
What Makes a Good Man? / The Heavy
Same Mistakes / The Echo-Friendly
Sign / Harriet

Keith

Happy Birthday to Keith Richards...
As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

Friday Inspiration: Spring in the City

edges of sky and spaces in between

Today was Opening Day at Fenway Park and Monday is the Boston Marathon. The trees are blooming and the city is suddenly brimming with people.

Spring is here.

I took a long walk today. And for the first time in weeks I felt like I could breathe. I was so grateful for the sun on my face and the air in my lungs. It reminded me how much I love this city. I forget sometimes.

I've had this song on repeat for days... 

Printing in purple

Setting up my printing guides on the press and soaking paper.

Purple color palette.

Inking a plate and pulling a print.

I've been spending a lot of time in the print studio lately. There is a very precise ritual and rhythm to printmaking that I enjoy. I can easily lose myself in the process for several hours.

My printing playlist--

Somebody That I Used to Know / Gotye
The Ghost Inside / Broken Bells
Punching in a Dream / The Naked and Famous
Walking with a Ghost / Tegan and Sara
Too Much / Sufjan Stevens
Santa Fe / Beirut
Heartbeats / José González
Because the Night / Patti Smith
Can't You Hear Me Knocking / The Rolling Stones

Sixty-Eight

Keith Richards' hands by Francesco Carrozzini

Happy Birthday to Keith Richards...

As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere." So play some Rolling Stones today and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

Eyes

The fragments of something new-- block printed eyes on vintage Japanese rice paper

These eyes remind me of a self portrait Picasso drew over a photograph by David Douglas Duncan, which looks identical to an ancient Egyptian tomb decoration found in the Museum of Fine Arts. They are also the eyes of saints from illuminated manuscripts or ancient Roman funerary portraits or many other threads that weave in and out of art history.

Playlist for a rainy day--

I Don't Want Love / The Antlers

Skip the Charades / Cold War Kids

Turning Tables / Adele

Skinny Love / Bon Iver

Country Lane / Telekinesis

Powerman / The Kinks

Dancing with Mr. D / The Rolling Stones

Because the Night / Patti Smith

Specimens

I spent a cold, grey afternoon at the Harvard Museum of Natural History. I'm fascinated by how the specimens are organized and labelled. Especially the extensive collection of hummingbirds. They are elegant and slightly disturbing at the same time.

Sometimes in order to understand the shape of things, I have to draw around them.

And I currently have the song Skip the Charades by Cold War Kids stuck in my head.


sketchbook copyright Kate Castelli 2011

Wandering but not lost

Sometimes the universe reminds us that everything is going to be okay. And it will be. The last couple of days I have found myself grateful for the sun on my face, the company of friends, and the vibrant fabric of the city.

I haven't stopped wandering, but I am not lost.


A studio playlist for the first glimmer of summer--

Starálfur / Sigur Ros
Moonlight Mile / The Rolling Stones
These Days / Nico
Down the Line / Jose Gonzalez
In the Night / Basia Bulat
Whose Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses / U2
Babys / Bon Iver
Welcome Home / Radical Face
In the Sun / Michael Stipe
She Belongs to Me / Bob Dylan
Skinny Love / Bon Iver
White Blank Page / Mumford and Sons
Wild Horses / The Rolling Stones

Summer Palette

I couldn't resist these tomatoes (and cherries and fresh spinach) at the farmers market today.

A beginning of summer/studio playlist:

Heart of My Own / Basia Bulat
Go Do / Jónsi
Stop for a Minute / Keane
Heartbeats / The Knife
Tightrope / Yeasayer
Prickly Thorn, but Sweetly Worn / The White Stripes
I'm Not Drowning / Steve Winwood
Waiting on a Friend / The Rolling Stones
Sweet Jane / Velvet Underground
Simple Man / Graham Nash

On procrastination...

The Sketchbook Project Vol. 4 sent my sketchbook in July. I didn't touch it until the beginning of December.

Realizing I couldn't fill an entire sketchbook in less than a month, I decided to be clever... I cut the binding at the spine and removed all the pages so I had only the cover. Then I made a 16-page artists' book using a traditional pamphlet design and sewed it back into the cover. Voila!

Most of the process involved me staring at bits of ephemera, making a huge mess in the studio, photocopying, and listening to Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix.

The Aftermath of...
(Pages 14-15)
monotype, photocopy and ink wash on graph paper
8.125 x 10" opened
copyright Kate Castelli 2009

Playing with time

Happy Birthday to Keith Richards. As he says at every concert, "It's good to be here, it's good to be anywhere."

So play some Rolling Stones today ("You've Got the Silver" from Let it Bleed is my favorite Keith track) and toast the man who will probably outlive us all.

(the quote illustrated above is from the man himself, and found in What Would Keith Richards Do?)

Revisited

Strange not to be posting daily. The drawing-a-day was a personal exercise to get myself out of a rut. It made me fall back in love with line. Line is so deeply satisfying and I realized I had lost touch with that very vital part of my work. Now I've found it again, I just don't know where it's going. I guess I don't have to. Something to over-think another day...


Currently listening to--
You're So Vain / Carly Simon
Sweet Jane / The Velvet Underground
Heroin / The Velvet Underground
She Belongs to Me / Bob Dylan
Till the Next Goodbye / The Rolling Stones
Running up that Hill / Placebo
Rome / Phoenix
Hey, Soul Sister / Train
Dull to Pause / Junior Boys


Evelyn Waugh
Author's Note, Brideshead Revisited
pen and ink
5.5 x 6"
copyright Kate Castelli 2009

Limbo

I'm sitting here having a cup of tea and looking at my life packed up in cardboard boxes. Moving is not fun. I'm in limbo at the moment. Neither here nor there.

Currently listening to--

Lessons Learned / Matt & Kim
Sometime Around Midnight/ Airborne Toxic Event
Wishing Well / Airborne Toxic Event
Hardest Part / Coldplay
Jean Genie / David Bowie
Jynweythek Ylow / Aphex Twin
I'll Go Crazy if I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / U2
Ruby Tuesday / The Rolling Stones


Chair from Rose Kennedy Greenway, sketchbook page copyright Kate Castelli 2009